Lunatic's Lullaby
by aru-monster
Summary: Amidst the waves of antidepressants and nightmares, through the bondage of a straight jacket to his body, there still was her. Rated M for violent imagery,innuendo and language. sasusaku, naruhina, onesided narusaku.
1. Chapter 1

_So this has basically been my baby for the past few days or so (whipped it up in 2, a new record). _

_I've been toying with a new idea of mine, and this was the outcome._

_I also discovered I have a penchant for imagining the Naruto characters in some sort of therapy. (They need it )._

_R&R, please :D Thanks_

**OO**

Faint mumblings and moans could be heard from the room on hallway 2B, room 757.

"Momma's on that wall.." The voice was child like and frightened. "And daddy's on the other one."

No one answered, for the ward was empty except for the bare bones of staff.

With no reply, a small giggle went through the cracks in the steel door. "Wanna know a secret?"

Sakura Haruno, nurse on the graveyard shift, took a glance at her partner, Naruto Uzumaki. In her hand was an injection needle -- she had been filling it with antidepressants when the client had began to speak.

"He's talking again."

"I know."

A stray case file in his hand, the boy sauntered over and changed the subject. "Whose the lucky recipient?" He asked with a wry grin.

"757 B. His weekly anti-depressant. Making sure it's potent" She said quietly, once more resuming her job of filling the tube.

"Good. That guy creeps the hell out of me, tubes or no tubes."

Sakura frowned at him and snatched the file to write on. "This is a phychiatric hospital,_ Naruto_. What'd you expect, for our clients to be singing like munchkins and handing out flowers?"

He blanched. "Not nice imagery Sakura. Not nice."

By this time the rosaceous haired girl had completed her log, and handed it back to him. "Imagery or not, someone needs their dose. Take care of the files for me, kay? We got a Hyuuga who seems to have a talent for lock picking."

He shook his head and shifted his blue scrubs. With a fatigued sigh, he went back to overseeing business of operations - Uzumaki style.

**S**akura Haruno was a nice girl. She gave money to beggars on the street, helped teach Ino Yamanaka cooking skills (disaster), and dressed well. She liked her job, but no conditioning had ever prepared her for the client in 757 2B.

She punched a few digits on the doors keypad and entered inside, syringe deftly twirling in her fingers. Adjacent to the scrubs-clad employee was a crisp white bed containing a quivering lump of nerves.

Red rimmed black eyes traveled towards her green ones, and he smiled that eerie smile. "Hi nice lady. The walls are red today."

" 'Fraid not hun. They're white." They always went through this.

Emphatically shaking his head, the patient was adamant. "Silly lady. That's mommy's blood on the wall, can't you see it?" Dark bangs covered his eyes, the boy's bent his head.

"Mr.Uchiha, I'm well aware there isn't any blood on the walls."

Already he forgot the subject, and changed it abruptly. "Daww, my name isn't Mister Uchiha! "

The man was obviously too distracted to be aware of the needle currently piercing his skin. The Uchiha skin parted like butter for needles - no problems, no tension from the muscles.

"What's your name then?" Sakura asked, trying to distract him.

"It's Sasuke. _Sasuke Uchiha_." He said with a childlike huff, as if the two were obviously different.

Sakura sighed and went along. Mr.Uchiha-- or Sasuke, had multiple personality disorder. Tomorrow he'd be a different boy. The nurse just had to ride the wave of his current personality.

Ah, the tube was done now. With relative ease, she slid it out of his arm. For tops, she put on a cherry patterned band-aid. Sasuke stared at it fixedly.

The exhausted nurse was about to leave when Sasuke tugged at her sleeve. "They're gonna get me, lady!

"Who, hun?"

"The scary men!" And with this, the poor boy hid himself under the scritchy blanket.

"Scary men? There's nobody here." Sakura's determination to be the voice of reason was long fading, and she could feel her eyelids like sandpaper.

"Yeah. Scary men. Got brother hangin' dead on a pole-- telephone, telephone, telephone..." That was when Sasuke began to shake again, emitting a scared choke. He poked up to look at her, slate coloured eyes now bloodshot.

Okay then, this was her cue to leave before taking a bow. The girl tucked a pink lock of hair behind her ear, and smiled warmly. "Well, Sasuke, I'm afraid it's Naruto's turn to come visit you now. I've got to go back and help the other patients. You remember Naruto, right?" The nurse prayed to God he didn't. There was bad blood between those two, from the past.

The man eyed her warily. "No."

"Well then, He'll brings you some medicine to help you sleep."

"Oh yeah, I remember _those_ things. They look like candies."

"Yes, they do look like candies."

There was a pregnant pause in the air, which Sakura took to look at her client. His handsome face looked too tired to be healthy, with huge dark bags beneath his eyes. The case file had stated that Sasuke Uchiha often recieved night Terrors from the homicide of his parents. It was nothing short of a miracle that he got any sleep at all.

She reached out her hand and patted him on his tousled dark hair. "Good night, Mr. Uchiha." Somewhere inside Sakura's heart, she hoped that it would give him a semblance of familiarity to the old days, before his mind split.

"Okay then, lady. Go bring in 'Rudo."

Without another word in edgewise, Sakura closed the door. Naruto heard her approach before he saw her, and was waiting in the cubicle of an office. He was knee deep in papers, having resorted to sorting them.

"How was it?" Naruto mumbled fatiguedly. His free hand combed through his sunny hair and began to scratch the back of his neck.

Sakura tossed the needle into a disposal bin and went to sit on a rolling chair. "He's still frightened at night, poor thing." With a bite of her lip, she turned to look at him. "Sasuke needs his sleep meds now. I said you'd give them."

Naruto sighed in defeat. His work partner always got what she wanted, and now that she'd gotten 757 B's hopes on it, there was no turning back.

"Oh God, help me. He's gonna call me 'Rudo again." In his last will and testament before giving Sasuke his meds, Naruto turned to Sakura Haruno and besotted her with pleading eyes. It gave the implications something like: '_If you love me, let me go_ '.

She smiled devilishly, and Naruto knew he was done for. If he didn't go give the meds, she'd make sure their supervisor, Tsunade, kicked his ass. Bottles of Sake and pain medications thrown at his poor, undefended face was not on his to do list.

"'Rudo?" Came the bidding through the vents. The voice was young and immature again.

"Coming, coming." Said Naruto, and with that he retreated from the battle field.


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone :D

By the way, expect these chapters to be very odd and all over the place. Face it, Sasuke's child personality completely insane.

This came to me after watching Lord Of The Flies and poor Ralph was crying incessantly. Because I had a bad day I thought I'd write Sasuke off as having one too. And with the "Did he look happy?" Thing is a technique we use when my ADD brother has problems reading emotions on other people. Thought it would be good for the kid-version of Sasuke.

Enjoy! R&Rs make my day, so please send :D

**OO**

He was careening, desperate to find the source of happiness. Raving, frothing, a lone ranger on the wild grounds of the lawn.

Yes, this was the perfect spot. Quiet and peaceful. Ideal for his purpose. He twirled twice for effect, a huge white speck on a sea of green.

"I have a fungal infection in my butt crack!"

Naruto's head whipped up from the desk, eyes widening.

"Shit, it's the Hyuga!" the staff bolted from their seats and went running towards the lawn.

That was how the day began in Hell on Earth.

Sakura had known that the warm embrace of her flower-patterned sheets was too good to be true. No more than seven hours after crashing into bed, the phone had rang.

"Hello?" She sounded like hell.

"Sakura! Oh my God, I'm so glad I got you! The interns said you never pick up after shifts!"

Knowing that this was her cue to get out of bed, the groggy nurse kicked off the blankets. "You're_ still_ there, Naruto?" She inquired, the phone tucked beneath her neck. Sakura thought he would have been desperate to get away to bed.

"Not by choice. I caught the Hyuga on the way out."

"He did it again, hmm? I pity Neji's uncle."

"Heh," Crackling over the line signified that Naruto was laughing. "He's an Asshole, that guy."

"Assholes aside, why'd you call?"

"Well..."

There was that crackling again. He was nervous, alright. Either that or the thirteen hour shift had really cracked down on poor Naruto's brain cells. Finally Naruto decided to speak. "Remember the Uchiha? Yeah, well... he pulled off another slip into the spare personality." There was a muffled scream in the background that sent chills down the girl's spine.

She rubbed her eyes until they felt awake. She turned to look at the clock -- seven thirty in blinking red lights. "Really? That's strange. He seemed calmer last night than in the past. I wonder what got to him."

"I can see him through the window -- he's freaking out at the band aid you gave him."

"He _what_?!"

"I don't know!" Naruto's voice spiraled up so that it rivaled the range of a pre-pubescent whine. "He won't eat either!"

"You were trying to _feed_ the client?"

"He was the nearest innocent, okay? Besides, he was already awake."

"Oh. Carry on."

"He's throwing things at the wall! AND HE WON'T LET ME LEAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!"

Sakura sighed and began to pull out an extra pair of scrubs from the drawer. "Have you tried talking to Sasuke?" She asked, taking on the mediator's tone.

"No! I can't get within fifteen feet without a fork or plate being thrown at me!" At this the girl sighed and began pulling on clothes. Hairbrush went next. Naruto wasn't speaking, but there still was an audible whine.

"He's throwing plates? See if he's willing to get on the phone."

"Get on the _phone_? Sakura, have you been on too many graveyard shifts? He won't even talk, much less go on the phone!"

"I am not the nearest disaster hotline. Try it Naruto!" Gone was the past ' mediator ' voice, now it was pure desperation. He had woken her up from the abode of sweet dreams, just to listen to him freak out about Sasuke? Was chivalry dead?

"O-okay," her friend stammered, "Sasuke's listening now. Talk away."

At this Sakura blanched. Now what? She'd expected to do some sort of talk-so-Naruto-can-get-away-while-Sakura-arrives-to-help mediating, but now it seemed that the plan was gone.

"Um... Hi Mr.Uchiha."

"Mm."

"You didn't sleep last night, did you? Did the dreams keep you awake?"

"Yes." All of a sudden, Sasuke's voice wobbled, and he began to sob. Sakura awkwardly stayed on the line. "We're so tired." He bawled in a broken manner.

"That doesn't explain why you were throwing things at Naruto."

"We were tired. Wanted rest. Don' _wanna _eat!" He cried. There was the sound of bedsprings creaking and Sasuke sniffed wetly.

Sakura was out the door now and in the kitchen. She was looking for the car keys. The client was still on the cellphone, his voice now down to small whimpers.

Looking at the rice-cakes on the counter, the girl decided to bring one delicious morsel and skip the rest. The awkward silence was still there by the time Sakura had her keys in the ignition of the car. "Do you want to talk about it, Sasuke?" At times like this she resorted to familiarity in order to calm him.

"No," Some of Sasuke's usual self was kicking into this personality. "Just come."

"Okay then Sasuke. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." ' _Please don't hurt Naruto_ ', was the silent prayer after. She pursed her chapped lips in thought, then sped down the highway. Naruto was going to get it, for waking her up and thrusting an unstable Uchiha down her throat.

When she got to the Konoha Phsychiatric Hospital, it was eight o'clock and counting. Carrying the box of doughnuts in a peace offering of sort, the girl looked up to the second floor. There Sasuke stood with his tear-streaked face pressed to the window pane. He spotted her and waved solemnly. Behind him was a yellow smudge that seemed to be Naruto's scrubs. Sakura was surprised at this -- she had presumed that the Uzumaki boy would have made a run for the bathroom.

She opened the doors briskly and strode in, counting room numbers as she went. This wing was where the real patients were -- the less unstable patients were in the front end of the hospital where there was a lobby and coffeemaker. The worst cases were at the back near the parking lot. They didn't do so well with human interaction.

The faithful elevator chimed happily the second floor. Sakura rolled her eyes and stepped into the chilly hall. Was everyone exuberantly awaiting the famed Sakura Haruno's return? Obviously Naruto was.

Thankyou Sakura!" Someone yelled, and before she'd even entered room 757, Naruto was off like a rocket towards the mens room. Sakura placed the doughnuts on the top of the reception desk and walked inside.

Sasuke turned to look at her with lost eyes. "Were we a monster to throw things at 'Rudo?"

She hesitantly sat down on the edge of the bed -- the boy anticipated this and scooted over. "Well, did Naruto look happy?"

Sasuke smiled wildly in a twisted form of enjoyment. "He looked like this!" And he made a face at her.

"Very good. I don't think it's happy, hmm Mr.Uchiha?"

He threw the pillow at her, suddenly cranky. Now his raven bangs hung over his eyes. "No more questions. I want outside." He pointed outside the window to where the early and beautiful day had began. Patients in wheelchairs looked like white sheep rolling across the lawn.

"Okay then." ' _And now I pronounce this day, The-Day-Of-The-Uchiha's-Mood-Swings. Heed to this rule or die in your stained scrubs._'

It was going to be a long and unhappy day.

Oddly enough, Her wrist was held in a vulcan grip as Sasuke pulled her out the door. He was careless and lazy enough to leave on the pajamas on. They were red. Sakura could remember when he was first given them -- He'd said in a very morbid state that they had looked like blood. Sakura had said they looked just like tomatoes, because _see_-- they had green buttons.

Now they were out on the lawn. He wanted to run laps, desperately needing to curb his energy. As Sakura watched, she mused over how she was to get the poor boy to eat. (Nearly ignoring Sasuke's whoops and yelling "Watch me, lady!" as he did somersaults).

Back to business. _Uchiha's_ -- there, she thought the-plural-that-must-not-be-said -- were very prone to picky fits. Naruto's little accident back at the quarters was evidence enough; anyone dealing with Sasuke's meals would have to be from heaven above.

The Uchiha melodramatically flopped down on the grass and began to roll around, laughing hysterically. And that was when Sakura made the best and worst decision of all her Nurse career.

She decided to let Sasuke eat doughnuts.


	3. Chapter 3

Feeding Sasuke Doughnuts?

Worst. Mistake. Ever.

She'd _sworn_ it felt logical then. Sasuke wanted food that was air mailed straight from the golden gates. The idea had been a generic association - doughnuts are from heaven, so he would _get_ his food from heaven -- the easy way.

Besides, what harm did a little sugar do to an Uchiha? They were invincible, damnit!

Apparently not Invincible _enough_.

"What did you do to the Uchiha?" Was the newest phrase around there. Sakura snorted.

_Hell, even Police Officers ate doughnuts. And they got them for Free_!

Still, no-o-o. The invincible, mentally broken Uchiha couldn't stand them. He was colouring with crayons -- crayons! He never coloured with crayons (especially the red ones) unless it was Friday. Sakura sighed and traveled towards the nearest shelf of files. This was going to be a long day.

A petite girl slowly entered into the hospital. She managed to reach the front desk, then quietly tapped on the surface. "Um, excuse me?"

The receptionist pressed the wait button on her phone and turned to the white-eyed girl. "Yes?"

"Could you tell me what floor Hyuga Neji is on?" She asked politely, arms hugging her sides.

The lady nodded, opened a file and rummaged around until she found a slip of paper. "He's on level five Miss Hyuga."

Hinata picked up the ' guest ' badge slid to her, and quickly walked up the stairs. All around her were people in wheelchairs or walkers, their voices loud and uncontrollable. She felt sorry for them, but there was no time to be sorry when your cousin was _the_ Hyuga Neji, also known as the busiest person in the whole ward.

Another desk loomed up ahead like a checkpoint in Super Mario. Her pale face flushed. Naruto was boredly filling out another request form. Hearing her footsteps, the boy jerked up and gave a wild smile.

"Hinata! Come to see your cousin?" He asked nervously.

She nodded.

"N-no-no! Hinata-chan, I wanted to prepare you!"

"Prepare me for what, Naruto?" She asked, now getting slightly confused.

"He was playing outside yesterday. With the bird droppings. And he ate one." Naruto whispered.

"Was he on his meds?" Asked Hinata calmly. Naruto shuddered. "Yeah, he was."

"Then that isn't the worst he's done!" She smiled happily and continued on her way.

"Whaddaya' mean?" Naruto inquired, now curious and slightly disturbed. Hinata stopped and shifted her blue sweater. "Neji used to hoard napkins. Obsessively. He'd talk to them as if they were his pets."

"If this were another sort of story, I'd say ' That is sort of kinky." The nurse drawled, then grinned wildly, already onto the next subject. "Did you hear about Neji's escapade yesterday?!"

Sakura walked in carrying a box of used syringes. "Naruto, do you have to be so taunting? Neji is a Hyuga, and I'm sure Hinata's just as embarrassed as Neji should be."

Said Hyuga nodded quickly, offering a soft smile of thanks to the pink-haired girl.

The admonished boy shrugged dazedly, then went back to the files. "Whatever you say."

Hinata turned to Sakura, her voice level but polite. "Could you show me to where Neji is now? I think they might have switched his room after the escapade."

"Certainly."

They turned the corner. There, Sasuke was sitting at the makeshift desk, drawing pictures with clumsy blue crayon. The raven haired boy was humming softly, quite enthused at his work. Naruto watched warily from the reception desk.

Hinata peeked in and gasped. "I-Isn't that the U-Uchiha boy? The one that was at the top of our class?"

Sakura nodded grimly. "The one and same."

"How'd he get here?"

"It's a long story." Sakura drew in a breath. "His parents were victims of a mass homicide by unknown criminals -- Sasuke was still a little kid. A few years later, when he was about ten, The Goverment found him a foster caretaker, some creep named Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru? The name seems familiar." Hinata mused, lips pursed in thought.

"Yeah. He was on the news, remember?"

".. Why?"

"He was on the news because Orochimaru was actually a child molester wanted in the Sand country. They charged him with sexual harrassment against Sasuke and locked him in jail."

Hinata looked at her with curious white eyes. "What does this have to do with Mr. Uchiha being in here?"

Sakura sighed and twirled a strand of her pink hair. "This is what connects it all -- Sasuke was put in therapy for the trauma of being molested, but when the doctors preformed the assessment tests, they discovered that he was in the wrong section. Sasuke was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder."

"Oh." Hinata quieted down, now looking at Sasuke in a new light. The raven-haired man noticed the eyes on him, and waved to Sakura happily. "Hi, nice lady!" Suddenly he started rummaging around until he found a masterpiece to show her.

"Look what I drew! It's me, an' you, and ' Rudo!" He said, pointing to three blobs in blue, pink, and orange. Sakura smiled and nodded. "Aww, that's so sweet of you Sasuke. How about you draw some more so that Rudo can put them on the walls?"

His face broke into a beaming smile. "Okay nice lady! Just watch me draw!" With this he went back to clumsily scribbling.

Hinata turned to give Sakura as pointed a look as any Hyuga could muster. "Drawing pictures in crayon?"

The nurse nodded with a bob of her pink hair. "He likes to draw with them. What can I say? It keeps him happy."

"But it's so odd to see that. Sasuke Uchiha, drawing with crayons? Even in Kindergarden he had a set of 24 coloured pencils."

"You remember that?" Sakura asked, then checked herself. Hinata had been the most observant girl in their school -- she had excelled at art. Eventually the girl had entered an arts university and graduated with honors.

Hinata sighed, then tapped her lip thoughtfully. "Does Mr.Uchiha ever remember Naruto? I remember they'd always fight in class."

"Shush!" The pinkette shoved her index finger in front of Hinata's face. "As long as this personality stays, Sasuke gets along with Naruto. Any mentioning of the past and we might trigger one of his mood swings."

"Oh, okay. But how did Naruto react?"

Sakura smiled deviously, remembering the first day the spiky-haired Uchiha had checked in.

_"This is not Sasuke." Naruto had first said years ago when Sasuke had first come in._

_"Of course it is. The medical records, the features -- everything checks out."_

_"But.. But... "Naruto was gasping like a dead fish. "Sasuke wouldn't have watched Sesame street if you paid him! He would have said something like ' That's lame ' or ' Piss off Dobe'." He pointed to the senile boy frantically. "Look at him now! Enjoying Sesame Street! The world is clearly going to end!"_

_"I'm alright with Sesame Street. What's wrong with it?" The Haruno said quietly, hoping for some neutral ground on the matter._

_Naruto tore at his head, anguishing for the loss of Sasuke's ego. "He's clapping for Big Bird, my God I can't handle this!"_

"Sakura? Sakura, you're snorting. " The Hyuga coughed. Sakura blinked twice, then smiled nervously. "I'm sorry. I just remember all the.. incidents ever since he met Naruto for the second time."

Hinata smiled at this. "It must have been pretty interesting."

"You bet."

"If you were 12, you'd be reeling in happiness to know all this, right?"

"Yes, but Sasuke wasn't in a mental hospital back then. Now his situation is just sad."

There were no more words to say. Sasuke was still colouring happily, so they decided to leave him be. Neji was located in the next wing, and so off they went.

The brown haired Hyuga man was sitting indian style on a mass of pillows and pizza boxes, clearly having just returned from a raid to the Staff Lounge. Hinata wiped her hands on the sleek pants she wore, then walked in.

"Hi Neji."

"SQUIRREL." Was the only thing the stoic man said.

Sakura decided that now was the time to leave. For all she knew Sasuke could be at the doughnuts again.


End file.
